Ouattara made the announcement on the occasion of the 62nd anniversary of the Ivorian independence. He wants to strengthen “social cohesion”, it sounds. Two ex-servicemen and confidants of Gbagbo are released from prison, albeit subject to conditions.
Gbagbo, 77, was finally acquitted in March of last year for crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court in The Hague. He returned to Ivory Coast in June 2021.
Although he was never arrested there, Gbagbo was sentenced to 20 years in prison in Côte d’Ivoire for robbing the Central Bank of West African States during the crisis following the 2010 presidential election. Gbagbo then refused to acknowledge his defeat by Alassane Ouattara. . That led to a wave of violence that killed around 3,000 people.